The Cost of Human Supplementation

Diet is key to sustaining a healthy life. Let me say that again; diet is key to sustaining a healthy life. Everyone is harping on this lately. “Eat a ‘clean’ diet” is the phrase that seems to be taking over all of social media and the nutritional headlines. It’s true, but is everything you are reading completely factual? Is it written for your best interest or is it written to drive you towards something the writer intends to sell to you? Let me be honest from the very beginning. We make and sell supplements, that’s no secret. But what we are really striving for is to see EVERYONE become educated (filled with knowledge and very aware) about everything they consume and how it affects the human body. Perhaps then, all people will act on that knowledge and decide to eat real food and completely abolish all processed consumables from their pantries and refrigerators.

Since the public is so bent on believing everything the labels say, like “all natural” and “organic”, let me at least try to go over some supplementation with you. We are all human, after all, and we can’t know everything. That’s why we look for guidance. So, let’s dive in.

First of all, it’s common knowledge that our diets are flawed. We simply aren’t taking in the vital nutrients we need that manage important cellular processes and immune function. Scientific research has proven that most nutrients are good for overall health. They can be protective against many clinical diseases including cardiovascular problems and even cancer. Many foods are rich in multiple antioxidants, phytochemicals and nutrients that protect, enhance and make our bodies feel better. Certain foods are even extremely active in reducing pain and inflammation.

Unfortunately, we tend to fill up our bodies with the wrong foods more to satisfy our taste buds rather than sustain our health. Incredibly, our bodies continue to fight to live, even if we aren’t at 100%. Many people are contending with life altering diseases or clinical problems. Life threatening or not, these conditions can be fought with vigor simply by the intake proper nutrients and supplementation. However, the biggest complaint I hear is the cost of supplementation or changing the diet is too high. In reality, we pay for it, one way or the other. Either we change our lifestyle, consume the right foods or we end up paying higher medical costs, prescription fees and likely end up with a reduced quality of life.

Dietary supplements are intended to replace deficiencies present in our diets. I definitely believe in proper dietary supplementation. There are many people who are eating the best diets and still need to supplement certain deficiencies for various reasons. Since there are so many supplements available, a lot of people are confused as to which one(s) is best for them. So, let’s break it down.

Whole Food Supplements:

Whole food supplements are essentially supplements that use food, generally in the form of herbs or other plants, to supply needed vitamins, minerals, co-factors and protein in the natural form. Whole food supplements contain co-factors or enzymes that help to breakdown and assimilate those nutrients for better processing in our bodies. These supplements provide several nutrients, not just one or two. They also contain other phytochemicals that help in other areas such as managing cholesterol, enhancing cardiac function, improving blood circulation, memory or reducing inflammation. Food is wonderful when it is the right food to accomplish this feat.

Synthetic Supplements:

Synthetic supplements make up the majority of dietary supplements on the market. They contain vitamins and minerals in their synthetic form, meaning they were created in a laboratory. Do these nutrients mimick the natural ones? From a biochemistry point of view, yes. However, we are missing several factors that are naturally present in the whole food form of these nutrients which assist in assimilation and absorption. Several studies have raised questions regarding the use of synthetic nutrients, demonstrating poor absorption which then impacts perceived health gains. In most synthetic supplements, the levels of the nutrients present are often multiple times higher than those found in foods in order to overcome the absorption issue. Even then, however, sometimes the health gains are still poor in comparison to the health advantages of using whole food supplementation. Bottom line, the synthetics still lack the co-factors and synergism between phytochemicals which is present in whole food supplements. Synthetics, technically, are also organic, by the way.

There are some synthetic vitamins that we simply cannot avoid due to the lack of ability to naturally acquire from reasonable amounts of food. Some examples of this include ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), Vitamin D3, co-enzyme Q10 and lipoic acid. With each of these, there are benefits but may require monitoring such as in Vitamin D3 supplementation. In others, though, the body will tell you when it has reached a maximum absorption. Vitamin C, for instance, will cause diarrhea if too much is consumed.

Our bodies are individual and each of us require our own unique amounts of nutrition. As individuals, we also have unique deficiencies that we must be aware of and address. No two people are the same, no matter what the numbers on the test imply. So, we need to know what helps our bodies need and then we need to be able to choose which is the best route to take.

Typical Cost of Dietary Supplementation:

If we look at the average person and take into consideration the vital dietary needs, we can get a rough rundown of cost per month of supplementation:

Whole Food Vitamin/Mineral Supplement (30 day)                          $40.50

Calcium (30 day)                                                                                        $12.00

CoQ10 100mg (30 day)                                                                             $35.00

Alpha Lipoic Acid 200mg (30 day)                                                        $25.00

Vitamin D3 1,000 IU (30 day)                                                                $20.00

Protein Supplement (30 day)                                                                  $25.00

Spirulina Supplement (30 day)                                                               $20.00

Total cost:                                                                                                   $177.50

 

This list is hypothetical. You may have found a whole food vitamin/mineral supplement that also contains CoQ10 or Vitamin D3 at substantial levels. If you have, look to see what you paid and then take a look at the ingredients. If the supplement is less than $50.00 and is completely whole food with no fillers or synthetics, you have a gold mine in your pantry. We generally find there is a ‘catch’ somewhere on the label that has been overlooked by the consumer. In any event, whatever supplements that are out there, if they are high quality, you will pay a premium price for them. If you look at the nutrients included in the supplement list above, you will find that they are necessary for the highest level of health for the human body. Yes, even in spirulina, which is kind of like taking a multivitamin all by itself.

Determining whether the supplement is truly whole food or if it is laced with more synthetics than food is the challenge. Thankfully, there are more and more true whole food supplements out there, but again, they are pricey. This is why most companies will advertise ‘natural’ or ‘organic’ because they know they are trigger words for the public. Those companies, however, will also incorporate synthetics into those products unknown to the uneducated consumer.

Now, there are synthetics like CoQ10, Vitamin D3, and ALA which are viewed as being better consumed due to the levels desired. We need to try to use forms of these that are readily absorbed, though, as we don’t want ‘expensive’ urine in the end. This is a common complaint by individuals of the bright yellow urine after consuming a vitamin/mineral supplement. Really, this is the high levels of B vitamins in these products that are being absorbed but not utilized and so eliminated. Sometimes our bodies simply do not need these extra nutrients, but in most cases, it’s just poor bioavailability.

Another caution to the consumer is the actual amounts of the supplement that is available in one package. The package may read that it is a 30-day supply but the amounts of nutrients in each dose are minimal. You may think you are getting a day’s worth of essential vitamins/minerals in supplementation but you really are only getting a fraction of that. 2g of greens in a dose of a ‘green drink’ will absolutely NOT give you the results you are looking for.

As a doctor and cancer survivor, it is important to me to provide my body the best nutrition to maintain the highest level of overall health. I used synthetics myself until just a few years ago. I was using a high quality whole food supplement with very limited synthetics (but they were still there so it counts) until I decided to make a change. I did what I always do, I experimented with myself. I was using the original human formula of Cur-OST (I have since replaced that with HU Ultimate). I wanted to see how my body would react without the extra supplementation since the Cur-OST formulas target inflammation and overall cellular health using whole food herbs. Many of those ingredients have specific targets, but others also provide the same vitamins/minerals and even protein in their natural forms, ready to assimilate. After discontinuing the whole food supplement and only using the Cur-OST, I actually felt better. What this meant is that I was over-supplementing and negatively impacting cellular pathways.

In the end, it seems the Cur-OST was actually providing everything my body needed in addition to a good, balanced diet.

Over time, I also discontinued my use of Whey protein and moved over to Pea protein, which again, my body thanked me. We all need enhanced protein in our lives for cellular function but also to support muscle development and energy. The move from Whey to Pea protein was key for me as it proved to be better digested. This is one of the reasons why I created the HU Ultimate formula. It provides the benefits of the original Cur-OST HU but with high levels of Pea protein and co-factors to support overall cellular health. I view this formula as not only my daily vitamin/mineral supplement, but with the added benefits of inflammation management, cardiovascular health, mental support, stress support and immune health. Some view it as costly, but when I compare it to the other products individually, I see the savings as well as the quality difference.

So, bottom line is the best route to consume our needed nutrients is through food, real food. What price are we willing to pay for real health? Do we want to feel better, enhance our health and our long-term survival, or do we want to continue down the same path? I talk to a lot of people who are on multiple medications, costing astronomical amounts of money each month. Most of these people view dietary supplements and changing their daily routines are too high of a price to pay. When we add the cost of a balanced diet, most people either believe they are already eating the healthiest way or they say that they can’t afford the grocery bill.

What is it that we really can’t afford? Is poor health something we are willing to accept or can we understand that it is possible to completely change everything through enhancing our health with food and not all that medication? If you could reduce the amount of medicine you take each day, reducing your pharmacy costs and perhaps even your medical bills, would you even hesitate? Imagine. Fewer visits to the doctor. More trips to the park.

No matter what you and I deal with on a daily basis, we have a choice as to how we approach each day. We are smart enough to make the right decisions, but we have to know beyond any doubt that our knowledge is based on facts and not subtle implications. We don’t have to accept what all the doctors are doing as the only way to approach our health. We have the right to think for ourselves when it comes to our bodies and our health.

It’s my job to make sure that any information I give you is factual, beyond any contestation. And it’s our mission here at Nouvelle Research, Inc. to provide you with products that back up everything we say.

All the best,

Tom Schell, DVM, CVCH

Nouvelle Research, Inc.

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